AI governance for business: scoping AI use cases and managing risks

This project addresses the need for clear, accessible guidance on how organisations can safely integrate AI into their operations. We surveyed the UK business ecosystem to identify the most significant challenges organisations face and how early adopters are addressing them. Based on these insights, we developed a suite of practical resources outlining key requirements, risks, and recommended risk mitigation strategies for responsible AI adoption. In January 2025, we launched the first version of the AI Use Case Framework–a tool that organisations can use to develop structured profiles of their AI use cases and catalogue them consistently. The launch was complemented by four briefings where we applied the Framework to real-world AI use cases in the four BridgeAI priority sectors: agriculture, construction, creative industries, and transportation. We then used public feedback and new data collected from the UK business ecosystem to refine and expand the Framework, integrating it with critical guidance on risk identification and mitigation. Published in March 2026, this report presents the final version of the Framework. The first milestone of this project is the publication of a framework for categorising and analysing business applications of AI and a brief analysis of sector-specific AI use cases. Our findings are published as a series of five documents: four sector-specific briefings complemented by this paper presenting a framework to categorise and analyse AI use cases. The sector-specific briefings can be accessed from here. The paper on the framework presents the tool that we developed to categorise and analyse AI use cases in a business context. In addition to providing the hermeneutical structure underpinning our research, this tool provides a valuable resource for businesses trying to identify relevant AI opportunities. Companies can use this framework as a starting point to build on and develop their bespoke methodology to identify, select, and implement the right AI solutions. The second milestone of this project will be to refine the framework based on feedback collected after the publication of this first exploratory version and expand its scope to include information about the risks connected to each AI use case and the mitigation strategies that can be adopted to address those risks in that specific context.